State and local highway officials in the United States love using quirky humor, puns, jokes, and double entendres in what are officially called variable message signs, the digital signs drivers see warning of an accident ahead or road closure. The Feds, not so much.
Federal officials recently updated the not-very-often-updated Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices (the last version of the manual was the 2009 edition although there were updates in the interim period) and the country’s road sign administrators took the opportunity to warn state and local agencies such as Caltrans, or the California Department of Transportation; the New York City and New York State Departments of Transportation; DoTH, or the Cook County Department of Transportation and Highways; and the Houston County Bridge Department; among others, that messages “with obscure or secondary meanings, such as those with popular culture references or those that are “intended to be humorous” should not be used on nation’s digital signage.
The new standards are not an outright ban on light-hearted humor on highway signs, the Federal Highway Administration said last week in a statement, but it recommends that officials avoid posting messages “that may confuse or distract drivers.”
These signs may be more dangerous than the drivers below them.
In fact, the agency went so far as to say that local jurisdictions should “use good judgement” in keeping with the long-standing principles that for highway signs “[to] fulfill a need; command attention; convey a clear, simple message; command respect; and provide adequate time for proper response.”
It’s important to think of highway transportation as a system that includes the roadway, the traffic control devices, the vehicle, and the driver.
The communication between the roadway and the driver is provided by traffic signs and pavement markings. Static sign can do a good job of conveying a message to the driver about a static situation, but, some 50 years ago, some forward thinking individuals envisioned signs that were fluid and changeable.
A stop sign is only four letters, yet it is universally understood, even with the author standing next to it.
ADMIRAL THINKING RESULTS IN DRIVER DISTRACTION
In the early 1970s, the world was much less digital than it is today. What was then referred to as a “changeable-message” sign was only a concept and the Highway Research Board Committee on Traffic Control Devices sponsored a conference in July 1971 that brought together those involved in the research, development, manufacture, marketing, and operation of the various types of changeable-message signs.
The goals were simple: to permit traffic engineers to exercise more flexibility in providing information, warning, and regulatory messages to motorists as conditions change. It would be stating the obvious to say that the capability of static-sign assemblies in providing information needed at a specific moment in time was rather limited.
While the thinking was admirable, the solution that resulted opened a Pandora’s box in terms of potential driver distraction.
Indeed, it appears that all of these traffic signs – silly or otherwise – may have a negative effect on traffic safety by needlessly causing as much distraction as a driver looking down on his smartphone, applying makeup, shaving, or trying to separate several children – his or borrowed for the occasion – who are fighting in the rear seats.
Must we distract drivers with 40+ characters of weather forecast for the coming days?
Based on new research, complying with the principles promulgated last month by the Federal Highway Administration might best be accomplished by pressing the “off” button on many of the signs.
.A study published in 2022 conducted by Jonathan Hall, an assistant professor at University of Toronto Transportation Research Institute and Joshua Madsen, an associate professor at the Carlson School of Management at the University of Minnesota, suggests that dynamic message signs confuse or perplex many drivers and increase the number of accidents.
“Let me take a moment to read all the signs… ach du Scheiße, is everyone ok?”
Another limitation that the late-night comedy writers of variable message signs face is akin to the now former 144-character limit when authoring a tweet.
According to the New York State DOT, “most permanent VMS can display three lines, with between 13 and 24 characters per line,” although the signs that are most prevalent in the Northeast display two lines with 24 characters per line, giving aspiring Rob Petries 48 characters to work with.
[Editor’s note: Rob Petrie is the name of the character portrayed by Dick Van Dyke in 1960s “The Dick Van Dyke Show,” where he was the head writer for the fictional “Alan Brady Show,” where he worked alongside writers Buddy Sorrell (portrayed by the “human joke machine” Morey Amsterdam) and Sally Rogers (comedienne Rose Marie).]
WHY ‘DRIVER EXPECTANCY’ IS CRUCIAL
In designing highway signs, static or otherwise, it’s important to understand the concept of driver expectancy.
Driver expectancy relates to the observable, measurable features of the driving environment which: 1.) increase a driver’s readiness to perform a driving task in a particular manner, and 2.) cause the driver to continue in the task until it is completed or interrupted.
It’s critical to understand that Information Overload is rampant while driving a vehicle on almost any roadway.
The driver seeks out information and services which he thinks he needs; others, he tends to ignore. Adding extraneous and superfluous messages about sleighs and Yule can only serve to confuse the already overloaded driver.
Only when the severe changes or unusual conditions that require abrupt adjustments in maneuvering the vehicle appear does the driver require proper, timely and attention getting warnings.
The “Great Fog” of 2023 only required a 4-word 20-character message, seen here from the northbound lanes of the the Throgs Neck Bridge.
A good example of such a situation occurred on December 28, 2023, when 15 states issued “heavy fog” warnings. Variable-message signs warned of “Heavy Fog” and told drivers to “Reduce Speed.” Another occurred on January 16, 2024, when 100 million people in the United States remain under windchill advisories and winter storm warnings and signs were programmed to warn of “Poor Driving Conditions,” telling drivers to “Reduce Speed.”
While messages such as these demonstrate not only the proper and intended use of variable-message signate but also will cause minimal Information Overload, attempts to successfully display longer instructive or educational messages continue to elude the custodians of the signs. For months, drivers in New York State saw a message that was intended to inform drivers that, upon approaching the scene of an accident, the new New York State Move Over Law requires them to slow down and move left one full lane (the same goes for other stopped vehicles and roadway construction crews, incidentally) continue to leave the driver with the impression that he was approaching the scene of an accident and should move over.
Of course, fans of the signs are crying “spoilsports.” Many people like the cute and often funny signs, not realizing, of course, the damage they may inflict because they divert the driver’s attention, especially if the message is inscrutable to some.
The last thing highway engineers want is for a driverto have to do a double take in order to comprehend a sign.
STUDY: A ‘SIGNIFICANT PROPORTION’ OF DRIVERS FAIL TO COMPREHEND SIGNS THAT INCLUDE ‘POP CULTURE, WIT, OR HUMOR’
In Mobile, Alabama, humorous message frequently greets motorists heading into the Bankhead Tunnel. One recent message read: “Undefeated since 1941,” a sly reference to size restrictions at the 83-year-old structure, another read “New Year Same Height.”
The Rhode Island Department of Transportation is known for this message: “Cats have 9 lives. You have 1. Drive Sober.”
Yes, the holiday spirit is alive and visible on highway variable message signs.
“Stay off the naughty list or Krampus will get you this holiday season.”
Many states have been utilizing what is otherwise blank space waiting for a weather alert, Amber Alert, or accident warning to post silly non sequiturs on their digital road signs.
If you were on the roads during the recent holiday season like 105 million other Americans, you may have encountered some variable message road signs that resulted in a double take. Needless to say, when driving a vehicle at highway speeds, a double take is the last thing that one would want a driver to have to do.
Indeed, the road engineer slash late-night comedy writers appeared perhaps to be working overtime around the Thanksgiving, Hanukkah, and Christmas holidays.
“Drive Drunk and Yule Be Sorry,” read one. “Stay Off the Naughty List. Obey Speed Limits,” warned another.
“But what’s a parkway? Wait, let me look that up…”
In December, on New York State highways leading to parkways, where no trucks are allowed, signs that formerly stated “Parkways Have Low Bridges. No Trucks Allowed,” the signs read “Parkways Have Low Bridges. No Trucks or Sleighs Allowed.” This sign turned out to be largely due to the transfer of Santa’s sleigh (from the movie “Elf”) from its home at the Halesite Fire Department in Huntington, New York, to the Bergdorf Goodman department store on Fifth Avenue in celebration of the movie’s 20th anniversary.
New Yorkers also were informed that a “Designated Driver is the Best NYE Date,” and also reminded a bit more strongly that drinking and driving do not mix, to wit: “Don’t Drink and Drive… Get a Ride.”
Texas drivers saw “Only Rudolph Should Drive Lit” and Arizonans were witness to “He Sees You When You’re Speeding,” borrowed from the hit holiday song “Santa Claus Is Comin’ to Town.”
Arizona also had a special message for New Year’s Day 2022: “New Year. New You. Use Your Blinker.”
Is your sign over the limit? A study by the National Academies of Science concluded that such messages be limited to 16 characters to ensure driver comprehension. This one is only 14 over the recommended limit – times 2. Mies van der Rohe would not approve.
At least one study does partially support this type of messaging: A 2020 study commissioned by the Virginia Department of Transportation found that “messages about distracted driving, messages that include humor, and messages that use word play and rhymes rank high among multiple measures of effectiveness” in promoting road safety.
The study’s authors, which include the aptly named Tripp Shealy, an associate professor of civil and environmental engineering at Virginia Tech, recommended using narrowly targeted messages that use wordplay and rhyming, stating they were more effective than those that rely on the driver to understand a pop-culture or sports reference.
There’s no question that clever messages can grab a driver’s attention but they seem to grab too much of it many times. It’s clever to be able to mention at cocktail parties how clever the “Use Yah Blinkah” sign was in Massachusetts or the Mississippi attempt to tie in to the success of the movie “Barbie” was with the slogan “Be a Doll, Use Your Accessories at Home,” but such messages come with their own set of problems.
The National Academies of Science 2022 study, Behavioral Traffic Safety Messaging on Variable Message Signs, found that a “significant proportion” of drivers failed to comprehend variable sign messages that included pop-culture, wit or humor, and recommended that signs not use humor and limit messages to a maximum of 16 characters, one-ninth of the original limit on the size of a tweet.
Ludwig Mies van der Rohe was one of the most influential architects of the twentieth century. For almost a century, Mies’ minimalist style has continued to prove extremely popular; his famous aphorism “ less is more “ is still cited and used by people, even by those who are unaware of its origins.
Perhaps we should be more like Mies.
(Photos: Accura Media Group)
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